Heaven
by Shini02
Summary: Oneshot. Comes after 'Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart'. Someone special is waiting for him on the other side. CharliexSasha, CharliexAnne Marie.


**Disclaimer:** If you think I own All Dogs Go To Heaven, you be sick in the head, yo. XD

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**Heaven**

The last eight years had gone by slowly at first, rather kindly treating him and David and Sasha. David, at age twenty, had moved out of his parents house, eager to be out on his own. His little sister, then six, had been sad to see him go and take the dogs with him, but she made sure to inform him she would be by as often as possible to visit. And she was true to her word, coaxing their father into bringing her over to David's new apartment every other weekend to spend an entire Saturday or Sunday with her brother, and the dogs. However, when summer ended and the little one was made to go to school, her visits were suddenly few and far between. The house was quieter without her around so much, but the residence of the lavish four and a half managed to adjust.

Somewhere along the road, David had found himself a girlfriend, who was now his wife at age twenty-five. She was a slender woman with light brown hair and dark blue eyes. She often spoke quietly and was a woman who was eager to please her husband and those around her. If David was going to spend the rest of his life tied down to another human being, Charlie thought he could not have picked a better woman. And now, that frail looking woman was carrying David's child – a boy, the doctors said, that would be due in late March of the upcoming year.

Unfortunately, things had changed drastically between David's twentieth birthday and his twenty-fifth. Not all was well because of marriage and conception. The years had taken an inevitable sour turn, and it all started when Sasha, in her old age, had taken sick. The vet had said it was normal for a twelve year old Red Setter's health to start "deteriorating," as the old man with the glasses so put it. Sasha did not make it to thirteen. It had been a hard dose of reality for both David and Charlie to swallow. After a few uneasy weeks, Charlie was able to deal with the loss and hide the pain in that expert way he hid all of his sorrows.

But it was from the moment of Sasha's death that things started to go bad, for Charlie at least. He was aging as well and steady trips to the vet had to be made every few months., much to his displeasure. He protested that he was fine but that same old man with the glasses said otherwise. His bones were becoming fragile and David was told to be careful with him as to not cause any hip displacement. Another trip and David was told to be cautious of the rare nosebleeds the dog suffered from. After that, Charlie told David he would not be going to the vet again, he did not want to hear anymore. David had agreed, having felt the same way. They would simply take things as they came.

Now, years after Sasha's death, Charlie lay in the middle of the living room floor with David at his side. The dark fur on his back had turned a lighter shade, highlighted with streaks of gray. His eyes had dulled in color; rich brown was now an haunting shade of amber that reflected the ghosts of his past all too easily now, simply because he could not be bothered to hold them back any longer. He found it hard to breathe but that did not stop him from drawing in oxygen slowly to keep him alive.

"Are you alright, Charlie?" David asked, frowning as he ran a hand over Charlie's back. The fur felt so coarse now.

"I'm fine, kid. Stop askin'," Charlie replied breathlessly. He was lying again, a habit he had tried to kick years ago. This time it was for the better though. Was it not? David did not need to know he was dying. Charlie had done this twice before, he knew the shortness of breath and the ache in his chest all too well. There was something different about this time, though. There was no murder involved, no heroic rescues – just the sweet release from the pain of living too long. This time, he was going about this death thing properly.

"But you really don't look good," David persisted. "I think when Beth comes back from her sister's, we'll take you to the vet."

"I don't need to go to the vet, David," Charlie snapped and his eyelids drooped. "I just... I just need to sleep for a little while, ok?"

David pulled his hand back, fisted, and sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll let you sleep then," he said quietly, standing and reluctantly leaving Charlie's side.

"It's appreciated," Charlie chuckled softly before his eyes closed. It did not take long before he fell asleep. He dreamed old dreams of fame and glory for a little while before the dreams faded into nothing but darkness.

---

Charlie woke with a loud groan. He opened his eyes slowly, though almost instantly closed them again due to the glare of the pure whiteness around him. He kept a paw over his face to block out the familiar sheen of light completely, allowing reality to slowly sink in. He could feel no more aches and pains, in fact he felt young again. Which, if he recalled correctly, could only mean one thing–

"Welcome home, Charles."

He felt himself stiffen as he heard the voice that haunted his nightmares. Groaning again, he removed his paw from his face and slowly stood. Cracking open his eyes, he found himself staring at Annabelle's smiling face. He would have paled beneath his fur if he still had blood flowing through his veins.

"Annabelle?!" He squeaked, then sat back and looked up. Sure enough, he could see a halo hovering above his head. "Aw, damnit all to hell."

"Charles! Your language!" The pink Whippet scolded.

"Ironic, but good word choice."

What started as a slump and a glare turned out to be straight posture and a broad grin. "Itchy! It's been _too_ long!"

"Tell me about it. I didn't think you'd live so long," the Dachshund grinned right back.

"Thanks," Charlie said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.

Annabelle cleared her throat. "I hate to break up the reunion, but–"

"There's someone waiting for you," Itchy cut Annabelle's sentence short, giving Charlie a sudden smile. Annabelle huffed and put her nose in the air.

"Sasha?" Charlie questioned without a second thought.

"Nu uh, someone else."

Charlie rose a brow and canted his head to the side, causing his halo to teeter to one side.

"Follow me," Annabelle said before Itchy could say another word. She pushed off of the cloud-like flooring and floated on passed Charlie, urging him to follow with a simple caress of her tail under his chin.

"See ya later, Charlie," Itchy said as Charlie followed after Annabelle, lecherously eyeing her backside the whole while.

"Where are we goin'?" Charlie asked, pushing through the air to float beside Annabelle now.

"You'll see, Charles," she said and a small half-smirk claimed her lips. "It's a surprise."

"Oh," he grinned at her, "you know I _love _surprises."

"I know," Annabelle mumbled, easily recalling her first encounter with the late German Shepherd. "Ah, here we are," she said, halting in the air and idly watched as Charlie collided with a large set of glistening white gates.

"And," Charlie grumped as he straightened himself up in the air and adjusted his halo, "where is _here_?"

"The human division of Heaven."

"Human division?" He asked loudly, looking at the gates warily as they opened up on their own accord. "Why?"

"You'll see," Annabelle crooned, running a paw over his head and then started to float backward. "Do try to behave yourself, Charles." She then vanished in a flash of blue light.

He watched her drift off and then wrinkled his nose as he stepped on through the gates.

"Charlie," a young woman called out from behind him. Instinctively, he spun around only to find himself staring at a white pillar of what appeared to be solidified light. He cocked a brow as that same voice called his name again.

"Ok, enough! I'm too old to play guessing games or hide and seek. Show yourself already, will ya?" He snapped, stepping toward the pillar. He stopped mid-stride as a young woman in her early twenties stepped out into the open. She was dressed in a simple white sleeveless dress that cut off just at the knee. A halo was suspended above her head, illuminating her with a glow all her own. Her hair was black and long, hung loose against her back, reaching its middle, a stray lock draping over one of her pale shoulders. This angel, she was a vision – that was without doubt – but what truly struck Charlie senseless was her eyes. Those bright blue eyes he could never in a million lifetimes forget.

"You're kiddin' me, right?" He asked, grinning like a fool at the young woman. "This is someone's idea of a sick joke or something." Someone had to have been playing some kind of gag on him, because he was certain there were no such things as happy endings.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Anne Marie said with a small smile. "This is real. _I'm_ real."

"Disappoint me?" He barked out a laugh, walking over to her casually. "Like you could ever disappoint me, Squeaker."

"Really?" He noticed a faint flush on her cheeks and it made his grin turn into an affection smile.

"Really. So... You look different from the last time I saw you. You look...good."

She giggled a little. "Thank you. You look the same," she arched an eyebrow. "But you're still as handsome as a dog could be."

"Aw, knock it off. You'll make me blush," he said and waved a paw through the air nonchalantly. She cocked an eyebrow and he chuckled, ears falling back contentedly against his head. "Not really. So, how do you like it up here?"

"It's heavenly," she giggled, "forgive the pun."

"Almost couldn't let that one go," he narrowed his eyes on her.

"But seriously, it's so wonderful here."

"It gets old fast," Charlie warned. "Believe me. Been here, done this. Twice."

"You only say that because you're not allowed to gamble here."

"Wrong! I can gamble, I just can't cheat," he snickered. She laughed. It was good to hear her laugh again. While she caught her breath, he walked up to her, then passed her, brushing his tail against her hip to indicate he wanted her to follow him. And she did just that.

"Where are we going?" She asked, walking by his side, lacing her fingers together and folding her hands behind her back as she walked.

"I haven't decided yet," he said off-handedly, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "We could," he paused, thinking for a moment, then said, "go watch the sun come up."It was a silly, romantic notion but the view from Heaven was to die for.

"I'd like that," Anne Marie smiled as she followed the dog. When he pushed off of the clouds and floated, so did she. When he zigged, she zagged; when he rose, she dove; and the two danced their way awkwardly to their intended destination: a patch of clouds that hung high above the earth that only Charlie knew of.

"Ain't that sweet?" Itchy chuckled as he lay beside Sasha on a cloud.

"It certainly is," Sasha said as she watched Charlie turned onto his right side; Anne Marie turned onto her left to face him.

"And it don't bother you?" Itchy asked hesitantly. "Y'know, seein' him with her an' all."

"Not one bit," the Red Setter admitted. "I knew he'd have someone else waiting for him up here. I'll admit, I just didn't expect a human." She chuckled, then turned her attention to her friend once Charlie and Anne Marie had vanished from sight.

Itchy snickered. "Yeah, I t'ought she'd have had better things to do'n wait around for him."

"Who is she, anyway?"

The Dachshund's brow rose. He had not expected that question to pop up so casually and so suddenly. "She's a little orphan girl Charlie knew before he died."

"Oh? Go on."

"Carface was keepin' her, usin' her to talk to animals to find out who'd be winnin' races. Charlie took her in and used her for the same thing, in the beginnin'. But he ended up givin' his life for her, so I guess there really had to be more than just the ol' nine tenths law in play," he snickered, smirking at the younger canine.

"I guess so," Sasha murmured, seeing Charlie in a different light. Yes, he had loved her and David more than his own life, but she had a feeling what he felt for them was nothing in comparison to what he felt for this Anne Marie.

Smiling a little wistfully, Sasha stood herself up and stepped over Itchy.

"Hey, where're ya goin'?"

"I have a choir to direct," Sasha said simply. "Care to join me? I could use the company," she continued before taking a small jump off the cloudy platform and floating in the general direction of her awaiting choir group.

"Sure thing," Itchy said as he stood and followed Sasha. Her choir consisted of younger dogs, primarily huskies and wolf mixes. She wanted to put their naturally good voices to the test day in and day out. However, in the middle of the session, those sensational voices were drown out by distant singing, two voices that sang so passionately for one another they made the residual stars of the night tremble.

Itchy and Sasha exchanged glances. Itchy shrugged and offered a sheepish smile in response to Sasha's lethargic look into the distance. Charlie had never sung like that to her, but all the same it made her happy for him. He deserved a piece of paradise to call his own, and if it came in the form of a human girl, then so be it.

-End


End file.
